Choosing the Right Temps to Set Your Programmable Thermostat

Categories: New Heating & Cooling Systems, Tips for Your Home

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Knowing how to set your programmable thermostat means making seasonal adjustments at the appropriate times every year. Cold weather, shorter days and longer nights, as well as the different patterns of household occupation during winter, call for changes to programmed temperatures. System energy efficiency and monthly operating costs—as well as indoor comfort and convenience—all improve when you know how to set your programmable thermostat to suit the season.

How to Set Your Programmable Thermostat for Waking Hours

Most occupants of a home will feel comfortable on a winter morning with an indoor temperature between 68 to 70 degrees. This is also the most energy efficient range to warm the house up after a night of lower temperatures. Program the temperature 30 minutes before wake-up time and leave it at this level as long as people are in the house.

For Leaving Home

Program a temperature setting 15 degrees below the Waking Hours temperature beginning a half-hour before the time the last person normally leaves the house for the day. That temperature should be maintained for the entire span of time the house is unoccupied during the day for optimum efficiency and lowest costs.

For Coming Home

Thirty minutes before the time the first person usually returns home for the day, program the temperature to return to the Waking Hours temperature.

For Bedtime And Sleeping Hours

One hour before the time the last person normally turns in for the night, set the programmable temperature to 60 to 62 degrees. Maintaining that temperature throughout the overnight period saves energy as the furnace operates most efficiently when a single setting is sustained over an extended time.

On Weekends

Most people’s waking/sleeping hours and household occupancy habits change over the weekend. Take advantage of your programmable thermostat’s separate Weekend settings to input temperatures for Saturday and Sunday.

Seasonal Maintenance

Most programmable thermostats are battery-powered. Install a fresh battery once a year, ideally at the same time you make the seasonal adjustments for winter.